1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processor such as a digital color copying machine, for example, for reading and inputting a color document image by an image input means such as a color scanner, performing a predetermined image process such as image quality adjustment for this input image, and then outputting the image onto a paper by an image output means such as an electrophotographic color printer and an image processing system using this image processor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally in an image processor such as a digital color/monochromatic copying machine for reading a color image or a monochromatic image and forming a copied image thereof, the quality of an image to be copied is important.
However, the required image quality greatly varies with the kind of a document to be copied. For example, in the case of a picture document, the reproduction of color and gradation is important and the image quality faithful to the document is required. On the other hand, in a document in writing mainly composed of letters, the distinction of images is required more than the color of letters and a legible image quality is required.
Therefore, a conventional color/monochromatic copying machine has document modes (letter mode, picture mode, map mode, etc.) in which the quality of copied images is optimized in various kinds of documents and a user selects a document mode according to the kind of a document to be copied and copies images.
Furthermore, a problem on the image quality is a desire of the image quality of a user preparing copied images. Namely, even if document modes corresponding to various documents are selected, a case that they do not match with the desire of a user intending to copy images occurs often. In consideration of such a case, there are image quality adjustment modes (sharpness adjustment, density adjustment, hue adjustment, saturation adjustment, etc.) for adjusting the image quality provided and a user can obtain the satisfied image quality by operating the image quality adjustment modes.
As mentioned above, in a color/monochromatic copying machine, the image quality satisfied by a user cannot be decided uniformly according to the document kind and user""s desire. Therefore, a user intending to copy images can obtain the image quality satisfied by himself using the document mode and image quality adjustment function.
However, these adjustment functions are hard to operate and there is a problem imposed that the image quality satisfied by a user cannot be always obtained. Furthermore, a problem also arises that repetitive copying several times until the satisfied image quality is obtained causes waste consumption of expendables such as such as papers and toner and an increase in copy cost.
Therefore, even if the image quality satisfied by a user cannot be obtained, he cannot copy images repeatedly so as to obtain the satisfied image quality and often gives up to copy though the satisfied image quality cannot be obtained. Furthermore, a copying machine may be used by many and unspecified persons and a problem also arises that the aforementioned problems vary with a user.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image processor and an image processing system for automatically learning the image quality desired by a user and outputting an image reflected by it.
According to the present invention, an image processor is provided. This image processor comprises an image input means for reading and inputting an image of a document, a parameter input means for inputting a parameter for image quality adjustment, a parameter storage means for storing the parameter input by the parameter input means, a parameter decision means for deciding an image quality parameter for adjusting the quality of an image input by the image input means on the basis of the parameter stored by the parameter storage means, an image processing means for processing an image input by the image input means on the basis of the image quality parameter decided by the parameter decision means, an image output means for outputting the image processed by the image processing means.